Growing a Greener Tomorrow

Nice job, Whitehorse! Our city has been at the leading edge of organics waste management for more than a decade. Over 43% of residential waste is currently diverted from the landfill through organic separation. At the City of Whitehorse's compost facility, organic waste from your Green Cart becomes a valuable, nutritious supplement to enrich our soils. The facility also creates local jobs, reduces the burden and cost on our landfill, and gets us closer to 50% diversion.

The City's compost facility has been in operation since 2008, defying misconceptions that composting north of 60° is difficult or even impossible. Plus, Whitehorse residents have enjoyed a curbside Green Cart collection service long before most other Canadian municipalities. When it comes to organic separation, Whitehorse punches above its weight - and that is something we can be proud of together!

Get the dirt on organic separation

When organic material decomposes in our landfill, it makes a toxic mess. It produces poisonous methane - a greenhouse gas that's 25 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide. It also produces leachate - a toxic sludge that can percolate into our ground water. That's a serious risk to human health and our environment.

Organic separation is the answer. Use your Green Cart every day to capture all your food, yard and garden waste. We'll take care of the rest - turning your organic waste into valuable compost black gold.

Help create a healthier environment for everyone and feed your Green Cart. Looking for office organic diversion? the City of Whitehorse has a collection program for you. Click here for more info.

what is compostable?

For the quick answer whether something belongs in your Green Cart, you can use the convenient What Goes Where app, but here's a bit more info...

Technically speaking if it was living it's compostable, but there are some exceptions. Compost collection services accept:

Please do not place pet waste (feces, bedding or litter) into the compost bin. The City makes a high grade compost for your edible garden and pet waste can contain bacteria and parasites that may be harmful to human health.

Compostable Bags

If you choose to use bags, only buy compostable bags with either of these labels:

Biodegradable does not mean compostable! Regular plastic bags can biodegrade over many years, but that just means they become smaller and smaller pieces of plastic - they will never return nutrients to the earth the way a compostable bag will. Never use plastic shopping bags, grocery bags or any other type of plastic bag for your organic waste.

Top soil (blend of compost and sand) is also available in bulk loads (1-9 cubic yards $45/yard, 10+cubic yards $30/yard). Bulk loads available by appointment only, call 867-668-8350.

Waste Sorting App

Knowing what to feed your Green Cart is easy with our What Goes Where app. Use it here, or download it right to your smartphone or tablet to have that infor right at your finger tips anytime you need it. Type the name of an item into the search bar and the app gives you recycling, composting, or disposal options.